Building on 50 Years of Multicultural Books

I’m
probably a bit more familiar with children’s books than the average college
student. Having a preschool teacher for a mother will do that to you. So it’s
never a surprise when she sends me email about new books. This week, the email
linked to a story announcing that The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats—a book
I loved as a child—is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Aside
from being one of the first books my mom insists on purchasing for every
relative’s child, The Snowy Day also has great historical
significance. Keats included the first African-American protagonist in a
full-color picture book.

“None
of the manuscripts I’d been illustrating featured any black kids—except for
token blacks in the background,” Keats wrote. “My book would have him there
simply because he should have been there all along.”

His
illustrations broke a color barrier in children’s literature, exposing children
to other races in a positive way. Peter, the young protagonist, is notably
colored with brown ink—not in charcoal gray as African Americans were portrayed
in books before Peter’s debut in 1962.

Judy
Keller, a former preschool director with over 40 years of experience in early
childhood and elementary education, said the book’s success can be attributed
to its universality.

“I
first encountered the book in college a couple years after it came out,” Keller
said. “It was kind of the right book at the right time. People were being more
cognizant of both wanting minority children to see images of themselves in
literature as well as wanting non-minority children to see children who didn’t
look like them, but acted like them.”

In
the story’s plot—about Peter’s adventures on a snowy day in the city—race plays
no role. What children do notice, however, is that their experiences are just
like his, Keller said.

After
exploring outside, Keats illustrates Peter and his mother as she cares for him,
removing his socks and preparing him for a bath.

“Then
he went into his warm house,” the book reads. “He told his mother all about his
adventures while she took off his wet socks. And he thought and thought and
thought about them.”

Keller
says it is her favorite image in the book.

“The
illustration says one thing and the words say something else, and that’s how
the best illustrated books are done,” Keller said. “You just see that (Peter
is) in a loving home and
that he’s a well-cared-for little boy. And all of that is unspoken and yet
conveys a strong, positive image.”

She
said contacting a local early childhood librarian is the best way to start
building an appropriate multicultural library for children—full of books like
Keats’ The Snowy Day that do not
hinge on a particular character’s racial identity.

my family is not african american but we live in a state that has a considerable amount of snow. my son always loved this book and the recorded reading that went with it. when we recently went thru his childhood things, he refused to let me give this away. the mark of a great story that goes beyond race bias. thank you.